Sheesh. We forgot to include Secrets of the Silk Road in the weekend preview. This looks like it will be a really fabulous exhibit. It opens today and runs through June. But this weekend looks especially fabulous. This is from the museum:

A host of special sights, sounds, and activities are in store for visitors at the grand opening weekend of Secrets of the Silk Road. Camels will be circling the Museum, stopping for guest encounters and hourly presentations about life along the ancient routes. Central Asian silks, textiles, furniture, and other trading route goods will be for sale in the Museum Shop. Enjoy performances, craft demonstrations, and a café with tea and Chinese pastries inspired by ancient foods in the exhibition.

And here’s a video of curator Victor Mair:

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Sunday. Museum admission is $10 for adults and $6 for kids and youth.

Here’s a schedule. (Oh, did we mention that there would be real camels?)

Camels

11:00 am – 3:00 pm

Two Bactrian camels (at ease in blistering heat-or freezing cold!) circle the Penn Museum, stopping for guest encounters and hourly presentations about life along the ancient routes, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Storytelling

Saturday Only at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm

Michele Belluomini of Blue Deer Storytelling tells traditional tales from Silk Road lands.

Dance Performance

1:00 pm

Young dancers from Chinese For Families present a short program of Central Asian dance.

Drum Performance

10:30am, 12:30 pm, and 3:30 pm

Silk Road hand drumming demonstration with Joseph Tayoun.

Music Performance

11:30 am and again at 1:30 pm

Classical Asian musician Kurt Jung performs on the traditional Chinese zither.

Get a Henna Tattoo

Saturday and Sunday, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Henna is a popular plant dye used to create body tattoos throughout India and other regions of the Silk Road. First come first served.

Here are a few select events this weekend:

Friday

• Great Expectations • 8 p.m. • Curio Theatre (815 S. 48th) •Tickets $10 to $15.

Join the Curio Theatre performers as they explore Charles Dickens’ world of Pip, Estella, Miss Havisham, Joe and a small army of other characters in a classic story of love, revenge, redemption and the discovery of self. Preview performances will be Feb. 4, 5 and 10. The play opens Feb. 11. Jared Reed adapted the play and will direct it.

• Serafin String Quartet • 8 p.m. • Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts • General admission $25

Serafin String Quartet debuted in New York in 2004 to a sell-out crowd at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and has consistently received rave reviews in the press and ovations in the concert hall. New York Concert Review has applauded the quartet for their “excellent music making” and “uncommonly fine interpretation.” Enjoy Sky Quartet by 2010 Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize winning Philadelphia composer, Jennifer Higdon.

Saturday

• SAT Prep for Teens • 1 p.m. • Walnut Street West Library (201 S. 40th St.)

• Peanut Butter and Jams Welcomes Bollywood Dance • 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. • World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut St.) • Tickets $7 to $10

This workshop is a unique fusion of Bollywood beats, Indian folk dance moves and western style with an exhilarating style of dance technique, all in an easy-to-understand, format that anyone can follow. It’s a great way to experience healthy physical activity, broaden cultural understanding, develop musical skills and have fun. All Workshops are designed and conducted by celebrity choreographer Rujuta Vaidya who has the credit of choreographing this year’s Oscar ceremony as well as the Bollywood dance routines for superstars like Britney Spears, Cheetah Girls and Black Eyed Peas among others

The 10 a.m. show is for kids 4-11 and the Noon show is a fitness workshop for teens and adults.

Sunday

• Charles Dicken Birthday Party • 2 p.m. • Griffith Hall (University of the Sciences, 43rd and Kingsessing Mall) • Free

Dramatic readings and party refreshments. Sponsored by the Friends of Clark Park.

• Super Square Dance for beginners • 8 p.m. • The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.) • $5 to $10

This could be all kinds of fun. Featuring Jamie Herman and Marian Macrae Band. Your caller is Keith Brand.

The entrance to West Philadelphia High School.

The success of the Penn Alexander school (4209 Spruce St.) sometimes overshadows what happens at other schools in the neighborhood. The fact is that many of these schools, while having individual successes, are struggling overall. The students are bright, the teachers are usually qualified and engaged, but the schools are not living up to their potential.

One problem is the lack of parental involvement in schools. Research has consistently shown that parental involvement is a key factor in a students success as well as a school success. Another factor, activists argue, is the school system itself.

The Enterprise Center hosted a screening of a school reform documentary called “A Community Concern,” which chronicles grassroots neighborhood reform efforts in the Bronx, Oakland and Boston. The documentary makes it clear thast school reform is rarely just a top-down process – that there has to be movement from below, among parents, community leaders, teachers and students to make real change. After the screening, several community members involved in school reform in West Philly discussed their efforts. These include parents from West Philadelphia High School (4700 Walnut St.), Henry C. Lea Elementary (4700 Locust St.) and Alain Locke Elementary School (4550 Haverford Ave.).

The same grassroots organizing that changed schools in Oakland, Boston and New York is alive in West Philadelphia as well with groups such as the West Philly Coalition of Neighborhood Schools.

The following excerpts from the discussion will provide an important primer on the efforts in local schools and a window into the issues that need to be addressed.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3 (it says “part 2,” but it’s part 3):

The burgeoning visual arts program at Henry C. Lea Elementary School (4700 Locust St.) in West Philly needs volunteer artists to join kids who want to improve their school. The students want to make change happen at their school through an aesthetic/design intervention.

Artists are needed to help create murals in transitional areas in the school, including stairways and hallways at Lea.

“Research shows that these are the areas where kids feel the least safe, especially in urban schools,” said Yvette Almaguer, a professional visual merchandiser who along with Lea art teacher John F. Try is leading the program.

The visual team consists of sixth, seventh and eighth graders who will be part of the collaborative process of designing, producing and installing the works. The program is seeking help from a number of potential sponsors and hopes to get the program started in March. If you’re interested call 917-602-7998 or write Yvette at yarecess – at – gmail.com.

Philadelphia Magazine columnist Christine Speer wrote a nice piece today on the efforts of the micro-loan project Philly Stake, which supplies small loans to innovative and community-minded projects in Philadelphia. The column features Nic Espositio and Erica Smith, who started the sustainable urban farming non-profit Philly Rooted and won a Philly Stake grant last fall.

Philly Rooted in partnership with The Enterprise Center manages the Walnut Hill Community Farm (4610 Market St.), which is located in a pocket park on land that is leased from SEPTA.

Philly.com reports that 14 people reported injuries this afternoon when a Route 11 trolley collided with a SUV on Woodland Avenue near 48th Street. Eight trolley passengers, three passengers in the Mercury Mountaineer involved in the collision and three people outside the trolley reported minor injuries. The collision was the second in as many days involving a trolley and another vehicle.